Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are all in touch with many members of community organisations who work with and support Ukrainian refugees. They utilise every tool and all funding and support that they have built up in our communities over the years to support the thousands of Ukrainians who are coming into our country and communities. That is not unlimited and it has a cost to the people whom these organisations were already supporting in disadvantaged areas. I am concerned about the Minister of State's answer about shifting the focus of different programmes to supporting Ukrainian refugees. That is fine. However, it cannot be at the cost of existing services, which have been providing supports in disadvantaged areas for years.

As I said, there is a limit to the support and staffing hours that can be utilised. Therefore, they need extra funding and extra support. It has to be on top of, and not from a shift in focus.

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